Schoonover a ‘bundle of energy’ on the mats for Dixon

Published: Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 11:15 AM.

“It was just really hard,” he recalled. “First day we went out and ran so much I just didn’t like it.”

A year later, he gave it another try, and this time he stuck around. The reason?

“I started pinning people, and I liked it,” he said. “Ever since then I just had a thing for it.”

Schoonover is a three-year starter for the Bulldogs, who annually sport one of the strongest wrestling programs in the area. As a freshman he wrestled at 145 and then moved up to 170 as a sophomore after trying (and failing) to cut weight to 160.

This year he’s comfortably at 172, but then again Tomlinson said Schoonover is almost always comfortable and is an athlete who “relishes the limelight,” which was evident last year when while closing in on a victory he smiled at a photographer as his picture was being taken.

“Seth always looks like he is having a very good time wherever he’s at,” Tomlinson said. “He always seems to be having fun. His personality is very loud and very energetic, and some coaches might not really appreciate that. I happen to be one that does because I tend to be a little loud as well. But he always seems to be having fun.”

Fun for Schoonover can be found in many sports. He tried basketball and baseball as a freshman, and last year was on the track team. This year he plans on giving golf a shot. But make no mistake about it, wrestling is No. 1, although football isn’t far behind.

“The person that wants it the most I feel like (usually wins), and I always want it the most,” Schoonover said. “I go to bed wanting it. I can’t sleep before every tournament. Every Friday night I get like two hours sleep … because I just want it so bad.”

“He is a ball of energy. He is by far the most energetic wrestler we have on the mat, at least for the first five minutes anyway,” Tomlinson said. “Now I will say this about Seth. From the beginning of the season to now he has become a multifaceted wrestler as opposed to a one- or two-move wrestler. He’s really actually worked really hard the past month and a half on expanding his repertoire of moves.

“But he’s also a bundle of energy. He comes out there almost ready to explode every match. And he’s emerged as a team leader. Part of that is because he’s got the winningest record on the team. So he automatically defaults to be a leader by the rest of the guys. They don’t have a lot to say to him because he’s winning a lot, and they’re not.”

Schoonover is 28-3 and coming off his second straight Onslow County Cup championship, winning the 172-pound title this past weekend — a victory that the outgoing Schoonover relishes for more than just the added notches he picked up on his win total.

“It’s a big deal,” he said. “I went in as the first seed, but I didn’t think I was actually going to win it. I trained all week just for that. … The Onslow County Cup is the bragging rights of OnslowCounty. If you win that, you’re the best in OnslowCounty. You can go anywhere and be like, I’m the (172) champ.”

It is, he added, the “first step” to the state championships, signaling for individual wrestlers and their teams that it’s time to “get serious” with only six weeks before regionals, where the top four in each weight division advance to states.

“Last year I didn’t do very well (in regionals) and I didn’t make it to states,” Schoonover said. “This year my goal is place in at least the top five at states.”

To do that — or to do even better, which he also feels is possible — Schoonover said he has worked hard since last season on the mats and in the weight room.

“I’m definitely a lot stronger than I was last year. I’m definitely more in shape,” he said. “Last year I came in and I wasn’t in shape and I made a lot of dumb mistakes. This year I’m not making any mistakes.

“If I make a mistake, I get right out of it. Last year I’d be on my back the whole match, I’d be making mistakes. This year I’ve been pinned one time; I’ve lost three times. Last year I lost I think 16 times and (was) pinned eight. This year is a totally different year for me.”

Schoonover actually didn’t like wrestling the first time he tried it out as a seventh-grader at DixonMiddle School. He was already into soccer and basketball as well as football. But his first wrestling practice wasn’t up to his liking.

“It was just really hard,” he recalled. “First day we went out and ran so much I just didn’t like it.”

A year later, he gave it another try, and this time he stuck around. The reason?

“I started pinning people, and I liked it,” he said. “Ever since then I just had a thing for it.”

Schoonover is a three-year starter for the Bulldogs, who annually sport one of the strongest wrestling programs in the area. As a freshman he wrestled at 145 and then moved up to 170 as a sophomore after trying (and failing) to cut weight to 160.

This year he’s comfortably at 172, but then again Tomlinson said Schoonover is almost always comfortable and is an athlete who “relishes the limelight,” which was evident last year when while closing in on a victory he smiled at a photographer as his picture was being taken.

“Seth always looks like he is having a very good time wherever he’s at,” Tomlinson said. “He always seems to be having fun. His personality is very loud and very energetic, and some coaches might not really appreciate that. I happen to be one that does because I tend to be a little loud as well. But he always seems to be having fun.”

Fun for Schoonover can be found in many sports. He tried basketball and baseball as a freshman, and last year was on the track team. This year he plans on giving golf a shot. But make no mistake about it, wrestling is No. 1, although football isn’t far behind.

“I love just going out there and hitting people,” said Schoonover, who plays linebacker. “But wrestling, you come out here and what you put in it is what you get out. I love the individual (nature) of it.

“It’s only you on the mat. … On the football field, you can avoid people. In wrestling, you can’t avoid a single person.”